- Steve's always going onto me about getting out there
and actually going E mountain biking,
get away from the bike parks, get away from the jumps,
actually go out there and explore the big mountains,
but today, I'm headed to Scotland in Miniature.
This is the Isle of Arran and it's going to be my first
E mountain bike adventure ride so I want you guys
to come along and enjoy the experience.
(upbeat music)
We've just arrived on the ferry
across from the mainland to the Isle of Arran.
I've done a bit of research on the island,
and it does look amazing for mountain biking.
There's loads of good trails here.
I've checked it out on the Strava heat maps,
Google maps, everything like that
and I've even brought along an OS map along for the ride,
but I'm not too sure, actually,
how to use one of these things.
Probably good for drying my tears a little bit later on
or eatin' my chips out of later.
So I've called in my good friend Martin Steele,
he's an Scottish adventure-style rider
and he knows this area really well.
He should be along any minute now hopefully.
In fact, here he is now.
How you doin', Martin, you all right?
- Hey, Chris, how are you?
- Yeah, good to see ya.
- Yeah, welcome to Arran.
- Well thank you very much.
I'm looking forward to it.
It looks amazin' and it's not even rainin' yet.
- Not yet, no, Chris, though we may be feelin'
a little bit of rain later on.
- Well I hope not.
What sort of ride you got in store for us today then?
- The weather's not too bad, so let's head up Goatfell--
- Yeah, Goatfell. - See how--
- Yeah, see how far we get towards the top,
probably could get up to about 650 meters.
If you've gone up, you're welcome there again.
- There's going to be some hike-a-bike?
- A little of that hike-a-bike.
There's some pretty nice riding.
- Yeah?
And Goatfell's the biggest mountain on the island, is it?
- It is, yeah.
- I've seen some stuff online and it looks pretty epic, so.
Do you want to take this?
- I'll take that.
- And let's get into it then.
- Excellent.
- Two batteries going to be enough?
- Definitely a two battery day.
- Cool, all right, let's go.
(serene music)
I cannot believe how amazing this island is.
You know, just here you see seals to the right,
I've seen an otter.
What other stuff we going to see today?
- Well, if we're lucky, we might see one
of the eagles on the island.
There's lots of golden eagles here.
- Golden eagles, wow. - And some seagulls
here as well.
And who knows what's in the water.
- There's loads of midges around as well,
so let's get movin'.
(serene music)
- So here we are, Goatfell Summit
and the top of the big mountain.
Is this the right way?
- Yes, this is where it starts to get
a bit more mountainous, so.
- Thank god, I've had enough of the road ride.
I thought I brought the wrong bike for this.
- A little bit too much for that, but I think this
is probably where the road runs in and the actual
trail starts. - Mountain biking begins.
Nice.
Looks pretty cold up there, though.
- Yeah, so I guess, probably a good rule of thumb
is every 300 feet up you go,
you drop one degree in temperature, so.
- So you'd need to be wearin' the right clothin' then, yeah?
- In Scotland in summer.
- Definitely.
What do you reckon, 10 minutes
in turbo mode to get up there?
- Let's see how we go on.
We got about 650 meters to climb as well
in the two hours to the summit.
- All right, go on then, lead the way
if you know where you're goin'.
(serene music)
- Yeah, a couple of tourist eagles over there, Chris.
- Tourist eagles, nice.
Probably waitin' for us to drop dead pushing these bikes
up the mountain and eat our carcass, I'd imagine.
Did you pack the D-fib?
- Um, no, but I'm okay for CPR for a few minutes at least.
- I had a whole camembert for my dinner last night
so I've got a whole camembert pumpin' through my veins,
so this hike-a-bike definitely isn't much fun.
(upbeat music)
So you're using a map then, Martin.
How do I know how much further
we've got to climb up this climb, you know?
I'm lookin' from the sea level
up to the top of that mountain.
I'm guessin' we're kind of about halfway up.
- Yes, we're coming up from like zero meters
above sea level where we started the climb.
We're going to be topping out just about 640
and at the moment, we are at 350, so almost halfway there.
- [Chris] So it is over halfway.
- [Martin] Yeah.
- Sweet, so.
A bit more pushin' to go, yeah.
It's really important to check out the type
of trail you're going to be ridin', maybe try
and have a look on YouTube or somethin',
maybe some head cam footage or walkers' footage
from the actual trip itself.
Thing is, with the gradient here, it's not actually
that steep for an E bike, but it's how technical
the trails actually are with the rock steps
and things like that.
You're simply not going to have pedal
because the trail's kind of cut in as well
it's got washed out so pedal strikes.
And the way the rocks are actually steps
make this really hard work on even an E bike
so I'm afraid it's time to hike-a-bike on this.
But if the whole road was like this,
there would be pretty much no point in doin' it.
You'd be out for a walk with a bike,
so it's really important to check those trails out.
(serene music)
Now when the trail gets super technical,
just pushin' your bike like I am is really hard work.
You've got all those steps.
Try and bounce your bike up as well.
It's a really good way of doin' it.
It's a hike-a-bike technique.
Now we've done a few videos on it before,
but the way you do it is just drop that pedal
down to six o'clock, get on your desired side
you want to pick the bike up.
Also remember to turn your power off as well
just to make sure the motor doesn't kick in.
Grab the forks, grab the seat tube,
big long lift up onto your shoulder.
That way it makes gettin' up these steps a lot, lot easier.
- Here's our river river crossin' to come up next.
- River crossin'?
This looks pretty fast flowin'.
I think give me some stream-crossin' tips then, Martin.
What we got?
- Yes, Chris, the obvious plain choice
isn't often the one you want to take
so let's pick our route through this really carefully,
make sure all our pockets are done up 'cause we don't want
to lose anything in it and it's downstream,
and let's pick our way across this region.
- So are we pushin' across or hike-a-bikin'?
- I think we'll push across and then you can use the bike
as a tripod as you go.
- Nice.
'Kay, I'll follow you and I hope
we're not going to fall in then.
- Okay.
(soft rock music)
- So, Martin, if I remember right, that sign said
two and a half miles to the summit.
We're nearly two and half hours into this ride
and we're still not there.
What's goin' on?
- So when you're coming up something this steep,
you've got to factor in the terrain, the fact
that we were pushing and carrying all the way up this.
- Yeah, this is more of a walk.
- It's more of a walk at this point.
- Yeah, yeah.
And obviously conditions are pretty nasty up here.
I mean, visibility, what would you do if this like
cloud level set in a bit more?
You know, we're on quite defined track,
but I mean it could become not that clear.
- Yeah, this is the point in having
like a proper map with you really helps.
There's a few, if you've navigatin' from a mobile phone
and your battery runs out, you're pretty stuffed up here.
- It's always wise to bring an OS map along for the ride.
- Yeah, and also know how to use it.
Don't just bring one with you.
Be able to locate yourself on the map
and know which direction you're headed.
- I was going to say somethin'
to dry yours tears off in later on.
- Exactly, yeah.
(mumbles)
(dynamic music)
- We finally reached the summit
and it's been a hell of a ride.
Well, a bit of a push, a bit of hike-a-bike,
you name it, we've been doin' it.
It's been pretty hard work.
But it's all downhill from here.
And I reckon we're going to kick things off
with this big rock kicker here.
Look at all these rocks, perfect transition.
What's this about then?
- So this is a cairn, Chris,
so this can be used as a navigation aid,
but the good thing about this one is it's marked on the map
and we know that this is our turning point.
We've come up from one side, we've hit the cairn
and now it's descending all the way back down into Brodick.
- Descending all the way down.
That's what I'm into.
(soothing music)
This trail is actually crazy.
I've never ridden something so technical and for so long.
Rock fields, you know, it is crazy.
What's the technique for this then, Martin?
- So I think coming down this way,
you've got to concentrate on where your front wheel's going
and trusting your back wheel's going to follow you down.
- Yeah, really lookin' ahead I think is definitely key.
I think makin' the shape of every rock you encounter
as well as the bike suspension, and I think momentum
definitely really helps, keepin' the momentum
in the wheels keeps you firin' able over this rough stuff.
As soon as you slow down, I'm feeling like I'm gettin'
bucked and jacked all over the place.
I think momentum's definitely key.
- Yeah, definitely.
If you start braking into these sections,
you start losing momentum and then you're probably
going to go out the front door.
- Yeah, you always got to be really careful
for those tight-like pinch gaps.
I know there's quite a few rocks that have got those edges
that are just dying to rip your rear mech off
as well as the water bars.
That's why I think it'd be quite easy
to pick up a flat tire here.
That's why I've said line choice, lookin' ahead,
momentum is going to make stuff like this a lot easier.
(upbeat music)
Whoa.
Now that was pretty insane.
Downhill all the way through that tech rocky stuff
and then (mumbles) through the forest as well.
That was amazin'.
A bit more muddy down here, though.
- Yeah, definitely muddy and a little bit
of midge in the trees as well.
- Yeah, the midges.
I've got bitten a few times.
But that was pretty cool.
So what's next?
I'm pretty hungry.
- So I think we should head down to town,
get a bite to eat and then do a little bit more exploring.
- Yeah, definitely, I'm way up for that.
So if you haven't brought a spare battery with you,
now is your time to get your battery on charge.
Just try and be a bit friendly to the cafe owner
or pub, wherever you go into.
Maybe give 'em a little tip, stick your battery
on charge and get it topped up for your next adventure.
(serene music)
Well, we just finished up lunch here at the cafe.
It's really important to schedule in a lunch stop
on those big, big rides as well 'cause it's all
about managing your battery, but if you get tired
before your battery's done, it's not going to be a good day out
so schedule in a lunch stop, get charged up,
get a few drinks in and it's a good chance
to take a look at your route as well.
We've done a bit more route plannin'.
I think Martin's got something special
in store for us after this.
- Yeah, I think this time we're going to go 'round
to Glen Rosa, which is kind of behind Goatfell
where we were previously and just have a little look
and see how far we get up that track.
- Nice, we don't want to miss our last ferry, though,
so we have to keep an eye on the time
'cause that last climb I think took us two
and about half hours to get up.
So if this is any bigger, we're going to be swimmin' back
and I don't think the E bikes are too keen
on the water, are they?
(soft rock music)
So, Martin, let's take a look inside this
mountain biking sporran.
Is that the right word?
- Yeah, it's close enough.
There's a fair amount in here,
so it may take a little while.
- Okay, I just want to see the essentials
for these big days out, you know,
like what we're doing today up in the hills.
- A spare battery.
Here's some extra (mumbles) clothin' in here
and an extra dry pair of gloves.
You had a map, but I've also got a map.
- And it's waterproof as well.
- I got a waterproof map.
- A compass.
- Multi-tool.
Chin loop and the compass has a whistle attached
to the other end of it.
- So if you ever get lost.
- I've got a tubeless repair kit, some little bags
of nuts and bolts, some extra brake pads,
a few yards of hazard tape so in case you had a group
and somebody had an accident, you could close off the trail
so nobody can come rolling through.
- Yeah, that's a good idea.
- Paralevers, all the stuff you'd expect.
Some more clothing, a waterproof jacket,
first aid kit, a little splint in case you need it
to sprint your arm, you can hold it under there
and then splint your arm with some bandages.
Some braking gear cable, a pump, obviously.
I've got some spare inner tubes and most importantly,
I've got some Scotch eggs.
- Scotch eggs'll keep you topped up.
Now that's a hell of a kit, isn't it?
Well, that bag was definitely super impressive.
You know, that is the best bag
I've ever seen for mountain biking.
You said it's kind of like the kit you'd have
if you were a mountain leader, is that right?
- Yup, that's right.
- It's the bare minimum.
But we've got half an hour left and that ferry, I think,
should be comin' into port pretty soon.
(tranquil music)
We go back to where it all began first thing this morning.
We've done an absolutely amazing day
out there in the mountains.
It's been absolutely epic.
I want to say thanks, Martin, for an amazing day out
and it's definitely whetted my appetite
for these big mountain adventures,
so expect to see me on a hill near you
with Steve Jones real soon.
But if you've enjoyed today's video,
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If you want to check out another video,
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We've got to get the ferry 'cause it's about to disappear
and that is the last one back from the island
so we'll see you soon.